The Construction of Prehispanic Landscapes in the Santiago Bayacora Basin, Durango

Summary

Northern Mexico has traditionally been underrepresented in received archaeological scholarship on Mesoamerica, and in this sense the Guadiana branch of the Chalchihuites Culture in Durango is no exception. Nonetheless, in recent years archaeological research in the region has produced a body of new data that permits a deeper understanding of the ancient inhabitants of Durango. This paper explores archaeological evidence from the Santiago Bayacora basin, a riverine watershed whose lower portion encompasses Durango’s Guadiana Valley. A hypothetical regional settlement pattern for the period of Chalchihuites occupation (AD 550–1150) is suggested through a consideration of architectural types and their distribution, site visibility and situation within the landscape, and ceramic analysis—data that also point to the sociopolitical organization of the groups inhabiting this landscape. Finally, utilizing the frameworks of landscape archaeology, the author explores the dynamics of the processes of landscape appropriation in which regional groups were likely involved. This paper thus contributes to contemporary debate by highlighting a series of key questions and suggestions for continuing investigation that are critical to augmenting our burgeoning understanding of the archaeological record of northern Mexico.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Connections and Complexity: Shifting Perspectives and Current Research in Western Mesoamerica

Keywords

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